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IDF Says Combat Operations Led to Bulldozing at Gaza War Cemetery With WWI and WWII Graves

Satellite analysis alongside an eyewitness account describes headstones removed in 2025 during operations targeting underground infrastructure that the IDF says it dismantled.

Overview

  • Israel confirms forces bulldozed sections of the al-Tuffah site, saying the area was an active combat zone and that measures were taken to neutralize threats.
  • Satellite imagery shows rows of gravestones removed and extensive earthworks through 2025, with damage visible by August and clearer by December.
  • Former caretaker Essam Jaradah describes two bulldozing rounds, including about 1,000 square meters inside the walls affecting a corner with Australian soldiers’ graves after late April or early May.
  • Analysis reports a plot for Canadian UN peacekeepers and multiple sections of First and Second World War graves were razed.
  • The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cites damage, including a memorial reported hit on December 11, at a cemetery holding 3,217 graves with a history of prior incidents and restricted on-the-ground access.